The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to end a Department of Defense policy to fund interstate travel for servicemembers to obtain an abortion should they be stationed in a state that does not allow the procedure.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray declined to answer direct questions from lawmakers on several hot-button issues at a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing.
The performance on Wednesday generated frustration on both sides of the political aisle, and a rebuke from FBI alumni.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar says there is “no way in hell” that she will attend Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s joint address to Congress and that he should not even be invited to speak.
“There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied @RashidaTlaib the ability to see her grandma,” Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, tweeted Wednesday.
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Congressional Democrats are attempting to add the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution about fifty years after states failed to ratify it by introducing legislation stating that it has, in fact, been ratified, according to The New York Times.
Congress passed the ERA in 1972 with a seven-year deadline for ratification, but only 35 states ratified it by 1982, falling short of the required three-quarters of states. Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Democratic Missouri Rep. Cori Bush introduced a proposal Thursday which ignores the deadline, states that the ERA has already been ratified as the 28th Amendment and urges the National Archivist to certify and publish it immediately, according to the NYT.
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The California Globe Julie Su’s rough road to becoming the next Secretary of Labor just got even rougher – and narrower. West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin jumped off the Su fence and landed squarely on the “No” side Thursday afternoon, announcing he cannot support her nomination “I believe the person leading the U.S. Department of Labor should have the experience to collaboratively lead both labor and industry to forge compromises acceptable to both parties,” Manchin said. “While her credentials and qualifications are impressive, I have genuine concerns that Julie Su’s more progressive background prevents her from doing this and for that reason I cannot support her nomination to serve as Secretary of Labor.” READ THE FULL STORY
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Nashville-area public policy expert Clint Brewer on Thursday tapped Tennessee Attorney General Jonathon Skrmetti and the Volunteer State writ large as this week’s big winners; but nationally, the recovering journalist panned Donald Trump, Fox News in this week’s segment of Winners and Losers on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: You know, Clint, everybody waits with bated breath to hear you.. Clint Brewer: I think you’re making fun of me, Mike. Michael Patrick Leahy: No, people wanna know. You’ve got an excellent sense of who’s up and who’s down, who are the winners of this week, Clint Brewer? Clint Brewer: All right. So here, close to home, I’d have to say my old stomping grounds, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the state of Tennessee rose in the rankings to number three in the best states do business in the CNBC poll. You know, we’ve got a great business climate here. Michael Patrick Leahy: A lot of, see, I don’t believe that. I think we should be number one. Who’s one and two? I don’t know – but who’s better than Tennessee? Clint Brewer: Usually it’s, like, Texas. But you know, I mean,…
Read the full storyBreitbart Former President Donald Trump will host a screening of the recently released movie Sound of Freedom at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with the movie’s star Jim Caviezel and Tim Ballard set to attend. In an announcement Thursday, the 2024 Trump campaign said the Sound of Freedom screening will take place July 19 at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. President Trump will be joined by actor Jim Caviezel as well as the man he plays in the movie — former Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard, who quit his job to devote himself to rescuing children from international traffickers. The screening will be open to club members and supporters, the Trump campaign said. READ THE FULL STORY
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Former President Donald Trump continues to crush the competition, but political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy is swiftly rising in the crowded field of Republican presidential candidates, according to a new Morning Consult poll.
Trump is polling at 56 percent, distantly followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, at 17 percent, according to the poll of more than 3,600 potential Republican primary voters.
Read the full storyBreitbart News The GOP chairman of the House’s homeland security panel has a five-point strategy for successfully impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden’s pro-migration border chief. “You have to you have to do it in a methodical way that educates the American people along the way,” chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) said at a July 12 meeting at the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C.: What we’re going to talk a little bit about today [are] the five phases of holding Mayorkas accountable … The documents that you see coming out of next week, for release on Monday, are the findings of Phase One, the dereliction of duty phase … The second phase is the [government] facilitation of cartel crime. And how an open border is absolutely advancing the criminal activity inside the United States. And you can just simply Google San Francisco cartel crime, and you can see how the cartels have essentially taken over the criminal activity in San Francisco. It’s fascinating, all because of an open border, all at the hands of Alejandro Mayorkas. READ THE FULL STORY
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Among likely primary voters in New Hampshire, former President Donald Trump holds a 24-point lead over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. In this month’s poll, Trump received 39% of the vote down from 44% in June. DeSantis was at 12% in June but bounced up slightly to 15% this month.
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The Secret Service said Thursday that they did not find fingerprints or DNA on the bag of cocaine that was found in the White House last week, and that a review of the surveillance camera footage did not identify a suspect.
Read the full storyLifesite News A Nobel Prize-winning physicist has criticized alarmist climate predictions and said that he does not believe that there is a climate crisis. During his speech at the “Quantum Korea 2023” event, Dr. John Clauser said, “I don’t believe there is a climate crisis,” according to a report by Seoul Economic Daily that has been translated into English by the CO2 Coalition. Clauser added that “key processes are exaggerated and misunderstood by approximately 200 times” and accused the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of spreading misinformation. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full storyLifesite News A Nobel Prize-winning physicist has criticized alarmist climate predictions and said that he does not believe that there is a climate crisis. During his speech at the “Quantum Korea 2023” event, Dr. John Clauser said, “I don’t believe there is a climate crisis,” according to a report by Seoul Economic Daily that has been translated into English by the CO2 Coalition. Clauser added that “key processes are exaggerated and misunderstood by approximately 200 times” and accused the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of spreading misinformation. READ THE FULL STORY
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According to a Wednesday report, the Franklin Police Department (FPD) has identified five more victims of Camilo Hurtado Campos, the alleged child rapist whose phone, containing graphic images and videos, was found at a local restaurant in late June.
“Those are five that we did not know about,” Franklin Police Public Information Officer Lt. Charles Warner reportedly said.
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New polling from Music City Research, a Nashville-based research firm focused on public opinion polling, reports that Freddie O’Connell is leading the Nashville mayoral race with 20 percent of the vote.
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The FBI responded on Friday to a lawsuit filed by an advocacy group and claimed that the group is “not entitled” to records regarding the agency’s targeting of Catholics in a memo from January, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Catholic Vote (CV) filed a lawsuit in April against the agency after it failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) requests regarding the FBI’s targeting of Catholics. The FBI issued a seven-page response to the lawsuit and rejected CV’s assertion that the organization has a right to know about the FBI’s records regarding Catholics and a January memo that targeted Roman Catholics as potential domestic terrorists, according to documents reviewed by the DCNF.
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An economist says “American families are having to eat the rotten fruit from the tree of government overspending” after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Wednesday that the consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, rose 0.2% in June.
“It’s great news for the consumer that inflation has slowed dramatically from 40-year highs, but we’re still in terrible shape,” EJ Antoni, a research fellow for regional economics in the Center for Data Analysis at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in a written statement. (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.)
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Doctors are reacting with shock and horror at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “guidance” on how biological men who identify as women can “chestfeed” their babies.
Internationally-known physician Peter McCullough, M.D., wrote at his Substack column Courageous Discourse Tuesday that CDC has become a “laughing stock” over its “chestfeeding” guidance, “plunging to new lows” with its “ridiculous” statement.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) recently proposed five amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2024, including one that would require transgender men to register for the selective service.
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Apprehension and gotaway data for June, which was significantly lower than previous months, is deceptive, a Customs and Border Patrol agent as well as the former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square.
They spoke in response to lower numbers reported for the month by Border Patrol agents that total over 135,000, which is significantly lower than previous months even though large numbers of people are still coming through.
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Tennessee is one of 26 state’s that has improved its employment rate between now and before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Tennessee saw a 2 percentage point improvement from 79.9% employment for those ages 25 to 54 in the first three months of 2020 compared to 81.9% employment for that age group in the first three months of 2023.
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Only 19% of Americans are interested in purchasing an electric vehicle, while Tennessee makes a massive investment in a Ford plant that will produce electric vehicle batteries.
The General Assembly in 2021 passed a law to spend $884 million in order to push the Ford deal through.
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Donald Trump won’t be attending the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines later this week. The former president has other plans. But Trump will be back in Iowa next week for a second town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity, eschewing influential Christian conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats‘ cattle call of Republican presidential candidates for his own political show. Vander Plaats, who has said it’s time conservatives “turn the page” on Trump, is hosting his annual summit on Friday. Most of Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination will be there — including former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, Ohio businessman and anti-woke crusader Vivek Ramaswamy, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s nearest competitor in the polls. The summit is a big deal. Put together by Vander Plaats’ Family Leader, a suburban Des Moines-based evangelical Christian organization that aims to inspire “Christ-like leadership in the home, the church, and the government,” the summit is now in its 12th year. It’s seen as a top stop for conservative candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination in the first-in-nation caucus state. If nothing else, the day-long event is a great way to meet…
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In a letter to House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm (D-Manchester), a group of 15 Republican women serving in the N.H. House of Representatives condemned a profanity-laced attack on a conservative women’s group by one of his members. The GOP women legislators also asked Wilhelm to take “resolute action” on the matter.
“We write to express our strong condemnation of the recent attacks on Moms for Liberty by New Hampshire Democratic State Representatives,” the GOP legislators wrote. “We stand united in our support for these mothers and denounce the offensive and baseless statements made against them.
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The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Gov. Tim Walz on Monday in a case where a group of citizens had challenged the constitutionality of the governor’s indoor mask mandate that lasted 10 months during 2020 and 2021.
In its decision on Monday, the three-judge panel affirmed a lower court ruling from March 2021 that dismissed the case on the merits. The opinion, written by Judge Michelle Larkin, also noted that Walz was within the authority delegated to him by the legislature to declare a peacetime emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic. That order ran from March 2020 to July 2021.
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The dollar’s status as the sole transaction and reserve currency of the world gives America’s federal government unique privileges. International demand for dollars enables federal budget deficits. It also creates an incentive for trade deficits, because incoming investments effectively collateralize American currency. To perpetuate this multi-decade debt binge, America’s real estate and corporate assets are for sale to any foreign investor with surplus dollars.
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Both chambers of the General Assembly officially left Harrisburg for the summer — an ominous sign that the bipartisan wound won’t heal anytime soon.
The development comes nearly two weeks after the Senate recessed until mid-September, furious over Gov. Josh Shapiro’s default on a $45.5 billion budget deal — complete with a new $100 million school choice program he helped draft — amid resistance from Democratic leadership in the House.
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An Atlanta City Council committee has signed off on a measure requiring gas stations to have surveillance cameras, a proposal proponents say will keep residents safe.
With the thumbs up from the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee, the full city council will consider the measure at its Aug. 7 meeting, a city official confirmed to The Center Square.
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The Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability released its 2022 report on the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Florida and it says that numbers were slightly lower than in 2021.
A total of 354 youths were verified as being victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in Florida in 2022. This was slightly lower than in 2021, with 379 youth identified as victims of exploitation.
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A report released Monday indicates Virginia’s K-12 education system has received inadequate state funding for years — and Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the results.
The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission staff reviewed Virginia’s K-12 funding formula – the mechanism used to determine the state’s education budget – upon being directed to do so by the 2021 General Assembly and shared its findings and recommendations in the report.
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U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) re-introduced a constitutional amendment that would prevent court packing by locking in the size of the U.S. Supreme Court at the long-standing nine justices.
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) originally proposed the amendment in 2019, and it was re-introduced in 2021 after President Joe Biden announced the creation of a commission to explore expanding the nine-member court and other “reforms.”
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The election integrity group VoterGA has announced its support for the recently-introduced American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Iowa lawmakers passed the Heartbeat Protection Act in a special session Tuesday night, leading one pro-life representative to say, “Iowans recognize the humanity of unborn children with beating hearts and won’t rest until they are protected.”
“Today, the Iowa legislature once again voted to protect life and end abortion at a heartbeat, with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother,” Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced Tuesday following the legislature’s approval of the measure.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order establishing the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential, or MiLEAP.
MiLEAP is meant to improve education outcomes from preschool through postsecondary by establishing clear metrics, collaborating with cross-sector leaders at the local, regional, and state level, and developing a shared action plan.
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Ohio State Representative Bob Young (R-Green) will not resign as state representative or chair of the Ohio House Pensions Committee due to alleged domestic violence charges.
This follows Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) requesting that Young step down as state representative and committee chair so he can focus on his family.
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Greater Georgia, a nonprofit organization focused on voter engagement in the state, announced the launch of its first-ever candidate recruitment program ahead of the November 2023 municipal election.
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Arizona State University and Applied Materials, Inc., aided by the Arizona Commerce Authority, formed an alliance to bring more than $270 million to create the Materials-to-Fab Center in the university’s MacroTechnology Works building at ASU Research Park.
The MTF Center will create a world-class shared research, development, and prototyping facility.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that the state of Ohio is awarding over $30 million in grant funding to support safer and healthier learning environments for Ohio students.
747 districts and schools across the state will receive the grant funding totaling $33.3 million as part of the Ohio Department of Education’s Stronger Connections Grant.
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Historically, unions have done some remarkable work in the private sector. However, union officials in the early 1950s began to capitalize on the many extraordinary powers and immunities that were created by legislatures and the courts. This allowed union bosses to no longer depend on rank-and-file workers’ input or support. Starting in the late 1950s, public-sector unions started to grow, and private-sector unions began to decrease.
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The Arizona Senate Republican Caucus said a meeting last week between Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) and Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs to discuss her recent abortion-related crimes executive order “went well.”
According to a session, update e-mailed to reporters by the caucus, after the meeting, Petersen (pictured above, right) was optimistic that the discussion between him and the Arizona Governor benefited the state.
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Taxes are going up in Milwaukee.
The city’s Common Council on Tuesday approved a new 2% sales tax that is expected to bring-in $194 million next year.
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GOP Presidential hopeful U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) released a new ad Wednesday in advance of two major campaign events in the Hawkeye State.
His campaign also reported raising north of $6 million in the most recent quarter.
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Amy Love, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes’ chief of staff, resigned on Monday, just six months into Mayes’ term. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs’ first six months have been full of even more turmoil, with multiple high-level staffers leaving within the first six months.
Mayes titled the press release announcing Love’s resignation, “Attorney General Mayes Announces Leadership Change.” It stated briefly, “Attorney General Kris Mayes today announced the resignation of Chief of Staff Amy Love. Ms. Love’s final day with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office will be August 7, 2023. Amy Love is an exceptional public servant, and I thank her for her service to the Attorney General’s Office and the State of Arizona,” said Attorney General Mayes. “I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
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The Biden Administration has publicly voiced its opposition to a measure in the annual defense spending bill that would mandate promotions based on merit and forbid promotions based on race.
As the New York Post reports, the provision in question is one of eight measures in the overall proposal that was officially opposed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), as it would essentially undo many of the pro-DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility) initiatives that the Biden Administration has been pushing for since first taking power.
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Despite a federal judge in Florida ruling more than once that the Biden administration parole program is illegal, the administration has expanded it and created another parole program to allow even more people into the U.S.
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More than one Republican presidential campaign expressed surprise, even trepidation, when RealClearPolitics broke the news in March that Tucker Carlson would moderate a presidential forum hosted by the Family Leader.
In the spring, several candidates accepted Bob Vander Plaats’s invitation to address his influential group of social and religious conservatives. None knew Carlson would be waiting for them on stage in the summer. “This isn’t prepping for an interview,” said a senior aide to one presidential candidate. “It’s an interrogation.”
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Historically, unions have done some remarkable work in the private sector. However, union officials in the early 1950s began to capitalize on the many extraordinary powers and immunities that were created by legislatures and the courts. This allowed union bosses to no longer depend on rank-and-file workers’ input or support. Starting in the late 1950s, public-sector unions started to grow, and private-sector unions began to decrease.
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